retinal pigment epithelium

retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)

A brown monolayer of cells of the retina situated next to the choroid composed of cells joined by tight junctions and filled with pigment, mainly melanin and lipofuscin (Fig. R9). Depending upon the amount of pigment, the fundus will appear dark or light. The main functions of the RPE are: control of the flow of fluid and nutrients entering the retina (blood-retina barrier), absorption of scattered light, visual pigment metabolism, vitamin A metabolism which contributes to visual pigment regeneration, ingestion and digestion of photoreceptor discs (phagocytosis), retinal adhesion and synthesis of growth factors of adjacent tissues. A dysfunction of this tissue can be detected with the electrooculogram. SeeBruch's membrane; Usher's syndrome.

epithelium

pl. epithelia [Gr.] the cellular covering of internal and external surfaces of the body, including the lining of vessels and other small cavities. It consists of cells joined by small amounts of cementing substances. Epithelium is classified into types on the basis of the number of layers deep and the shape of the superficial cells. Standard classifications include ciliated (cilia attached), columnar (taller than wide), cuboidal (same height as width), pseudostratified (single layer but because of varying cell height appears to be more than one), simple (one cell layer), squamous (flattened, plate-like cells), stratified (more than one layer), transitional (variable number of layers apparent). Other types are listed below.

anterior epithelium

the thin layer of stratified squamous cells that form the outermost layer of the cornea.

ACTC hopes to file at least one application with the FDA this year to begin human clinical trials using retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells to treat macular degeneration and other retinal degenerative diseases.

The team led by Dr Kang Zhang, professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School's Shiley Eye Center and director of the UCSD Institute for Genomic Medicine, and Dr Fowzan Alkuraya, senior clinical scientist and head of developmental genetics unit at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Saudi Arabia are using receptor protein called MERTK that is expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium,

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